Working nights tips

[chrisford_vw]

i do 10pm - 6am, and once in the routine i sleep from 6.30am to around 12 noon, then make sure i have a power nap in the evening (between 5pm and 7pm) i usually aim to have at least an hour but if i have longer then just helps you to feel fresher for the shift

This works for me too

[tommygtimk4]

thought id replied to this, dam iphone

Ive worked nights for years, usually struggle throw the week with just 5/6 hours sleep a day, after work on a friday morning i just stay up til friday night and sleep til sat morning, then comes monday im up all day then into work, only work 4 nights a week, 10hour shifts.

[Len]

3 am in the morning is THE worst time! Coffee or caffiene drinks are useless!
Oranges or good orange juice is best.

I did 4 x 12 hours shifts, 2 days then 2 nights. The switch over day was a b!tch!
Eat a good breakfast in the morning and on the last morning just have a 4 hour sleep, then get up and enjoy your 2.5 days off!

[DubFan]

I do a mix of dayshifts and nightshifts.

My routine is generally, the day before the first nightshift, stay up late, go to bed after midnight, sleep till mid afternoon, get up and enjoy the daylight (quite important to do this in the winter), have dinner, go to work (start at 21:30 or 22:30), work through (don't nap, it doesn't help me at least) finish between 6am and 8am. Head home, chill out on the drive home, go straight to bed.
If I'm doing another night straight after, I will sleep for 8-9hrs then get up.
If I'm not doing another night, I sleep for 4hrs, get up enjoy the day and then go to bed at the usual time (10-11pm ish) to get back into the normal routine.

Red Bull and the like don't help. Just eat well and keep your mind active during the night.

Hope they make it worth your while. We get £70ish extra for every nightshift, even more if it's overtime.
I do a few double shifts too (voluntarily) so it's a 10hr dayshift followed by a 10hr nightshift. Thats a killer but worth it for the cash.

[T_J_G]

Cheers for the advice, it's definitely worth my while.  Can claim all my expenses and a generous amount per mile I drive

[leeroy20vt]

i do a lot of nights to normally mon-thurs then fri off but may have to work sat and/or sun

the worst night i find is monday but once thats out of the way i normally get in around 5-6 am and sleep till 1-2 pm and tues night im fine only time i struggle a little is on the the 10 mins of the motorway so windows up stereo up fag time

i have to do all the driving mind which is nearly 180 miles a night which is a bit of b!tch

as said try and stay up a bit later the nite before u start and dont get up early get a power nap in the afternoons and the last nite get a fews hrs kip get up early so u sleep ok that nite

good luck fella but if u feel that tired driving home make sure u pull over and have a walk about or even sleep for a hour 

[Gavv8]

Go mental and start acting a bit odd from the start - it'll save you a lot of time explaining it's because you've been doing nights for a few weeks later.

+1 just for the hell of it.

[T_J_G]

Just got info on where I'm meant to be.

[jeynesey]

Drink lots of water, try not to drink as much caffeine as you think. Get some black out curtains 

[dansmk3]

way i do it is, a couple of days before starting my nights, get up at normal time as if you were on days, and stay up until you would go to bed coming off nights. do that for a couple of days and you start to get in the routine.

this is what works for me anyway. i love nights tbo as i get more sleep than if i were on days, the woman is at work while im sleeping too